Senate OKs Perry's deputy at Energy Department

Updated 9:48 am, Monday, August 7, 2017

Photo: Kevin Dietsch

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Rick Perry, U.S. secretary of energy, right, speaks with U.S. President Donald Trump during the Unleashing American Energy event at the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, June 29, 2017. TrumpÂ said he is lifting an Obama-eraÂ policy that curtailed the financing of coal-fired power plants overseas, as he seeks to reorient the U.S. government away from fighting climate change and toward American "energy dominance." Photographer: Kevin Dietsch/Pool via Bloomberg less

Rick Perry, U.S. secretary of energy, right, speaks with U.S. President Donald Trump during the Unleashing American Energy event at the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, June 29, ... more

Photo: Kevin Dietsch

Senate OKs Perry's deputy at Energy Department

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The senate has approved San Antonio lobbyist Dan Brouillette as the deputy to Energy Secretary Rick Perry.

An executive at USAA, the insurance and financial firm that exclusively caters to military and their families, Brouillette was confirmed by a vote of 79-17, according to the Associated Press.

Brouillette moved easily through the confirmation process at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee back in June. But a vote on the senate floor was held up, as Nevada senators Dean Heller Catherine Cortez Masto protested the Trump administration's plans to revive the development of a nuclear waste facility named Yucca Mountain.

Brouillette is a veteran of Capitol Hill, having served on the staff of the powerful former Louisiana Congressman Billy Tauzin.

"The SPR was set up for a very specific reason... and the definitions and conditions under which it can be sold are very clearly defined," he said. "I am not familiar with the discussion the administration has had, but as a general matter I would stand by the federal law."

Under federal law, the president can only sell oil from the reserve if, "required by a severe energy supply interruption or by obligations of the United States under the international energy program."

Asked by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louis., about Trump's proposal to eliminate a federal program that helps fund commercial clean energy projects, Brouillette, said, "I was not part of the budget process."

"I understand this was the president's request to the Congress. But at the end of the day Congress will work, both the House and the Senate, to determine the final and appropriate numbers for these programs."